With a week where they faced three opponents behind them in the standings, the Habs had a chance to grab a firmer hold of the last playoff spot in the East. They did exactly that, winning all four games to give themselves some much-needed wiggle room for the second Wild Card position.
The Habs didn’t bring their best game to Nashville on Sunday night as shots and scoring chances were rather limited. But Jakub Dobes came up big, turning aside 36 of 37 shots and a pair of early second-period goals held up as Montreal picked up the 2-1 win.
The Habs began a crucial back-to-back set of games on Saturday as they hosted Philadelphia. They needed a big third period with three goals being just enough to secure the 3-2 win.
After some late-game heroics from Nick Suzuki on Tuesday, the Habs looked to make it three straight wins as they hosted Boston on Thursday night. An impressive second period made the difference as the Canadiens picked up the 4-1 win.
The Habs looked to sweep both ends of the home-and-home with Florida as they hosted the Panthers on Tuesday. The captain came up clutch with Nick Suzuki scoring in the dying seconds to tie it and added the winner in overtime in a 3-2 victory.
The Habs had a tough road trip to close out the month of March, losing three of four games. However, it only made a minor dent in their playoff hopes with the other contenders struggling all week as well.
The Habs were able to salvage something from their road trip on Sunday afternoon. Nick Suzuki’s early goal in the third period was the difference-maker in a 4-2 Montreal victory.
The Habs scored on the opening shift of the game on Friday in Carolina but that was all they could muster up offensively. The Hurricanes controlled most of the game and picked up a comfortable 4-1 win.
After an ugly loss in St. Louis, the Habs hoped to get back on track Thursday in Philadelphia. Instead, they got off to another tough start and never fully recovered, falling 6-4.
The Habs recently passed the three-quarter mark of the season and find themselves squarely in the mix for a playoff spot, thanks in large part to some key contributions from their forwards. We wrap up our writer grades with a look at those forwards.